The Rise of the Remote Workforce

THE RISE OF THE REMOTE WORKFORCE

Who knew at the beginning of 2020, that this would be the year when an unprecedented number of office workers would suddenly migrate from in-office to remote working?

When we kicked off the year 2020, it started like any other year. We had no idea what kind of year awaited us.

By the time March hit, the global spread of COVID-19 was making daily headlines. One-by-one, companies began to announce that they would have their employees work remotely to slow the spread of the virus. Tech giants led the way by sending their massive workforce to work from home. Practically overnight, remote working became the new normal for office workers.

The sheer number of employees working from home was unprecedented, but also the speed in which businesses had to pivot to a remote workforce was also unheard of.

Working from home lends itself better for some industries, and more specifically, for some businesses more readily than others. Quickly transitioning to a remote workforce came with significant IT challenges for many companies, especially those that were caught off-guard in managing their newly remote workforce.

IT CHALLENGES ARISE WHEN MANAGING A REMOTE WORKFORCE

Companies quickly learned that with employees working from home, there were new challenges in maintaining the security of their IT systems. Businesses needed to swiftly scale up their IT security while providing IT support for their workforce to maintain continued productivity.

Some industries, like tech, where remote working had already been widely adopted, were able to make a relatively seamless transition. But many sectors that traditionally had not embraced remote working like government, legal, banking, and healthcare, encountered many challenges with keeping their IT systems secure from new threats.

RECENT EXAMPLE OF CYBER THREATS

As the workforce moved in droves to remote working, people became more reliant on collaboration tools. For instance, people began heavily utilizing video conferencing to stay connected with their co-workers. One of the most prominent examples of how cyberthreats can exploit the sudden mass adoption of collaboration tools, such as video conferencing, is "zoom-bombing."

CONCERNED BUSINESS OWNERS

Remote working can expose a company to new threats as they give up control of the environment where their employees are working. Companies may struggle to manage the security of devices, if they're issued by the company or even more so if employees are using their own devices.

Other concerns include a lack of secured Wi-Fi access, establishing firewalls for remote access, and ensuring secure access to documents and data for employees as they work from home.

IT departments can get overwhelmed as they struggle to implement the proper infrastructure and policies to support remote working. They are forced to scramble to implement these changes that previously might have taken years and now must go into effect immediately.

Such strain on your IT team can decrease their productivity as they continually put out fires. It can also reduce productivity for your organization as a whole if employees are unable to get the IT support they need for their new work arrangements.

Another major concern is that cybercriminals are aware of these IT vulnerabilities and may exploit them.

SOLUTIONS FOR REMOTE WORKING

For many organizations that were unprepared, securing remote access for their workforce was especially difficult because they were unable to pivot and resolve concerns such as deploying security software on employee devices, establishing firewalls for remote access, and scaling IT infrastructure to accommodate remote working.

Managed Security Services
If your organization's IT systems come under attack, you must have systems in place to detect a possible threat as early as possible so you can respond immediately and protect your business.

Hiring a managed security services provider ensures that your network and infrastructure is protected round the clock against hackers, viruses and other cyber security threats. A managed security services provider can monitor, manage and defend your network 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year. Not only does this protect your organization, it also takes the strain off or your IT department so they can move on to other pressing tasks.

Managed Cloud Services
By partnering with a managed cloud service provider, you not only keep your data more secure, but you're also investing in your organization's ability to scale and respond in the future more seamlessly. A managed cloud services provider can also implement solutions for backup and disaster recovery.

You also empower your employees by giving them the flexibility to work from home while having the access to the same information they had at the office. All this, while enhancing security for your organization.

Service Desk Management Services
A service desk management partner will ensure that your IT systems are running smoothly so your remote workforce can remain as productive as possible, accelerating your company's growth during this unprecedented time.

A service desk management partner can also significantly improve the employee's experience if they encounter any issues while working from home. Service desk management partners can also improve the employee experience by assisting them with onboarding, support and software/hardware training.

INVESTING IN YOUR COMPANY'S FUTURE

Investments in your organization's cybersecurity have immediate and long-term cost savings. By modernizing your infrastructure systems, you're setting up your organization to be able to handle future changes more easily.

A managed service provider can help you identify existing gaps in your IT security system and help you address them, to protect your organization from cyber-attacks while increasing the productivity of your workforce.

Find out how our managed services can keep your organization's IT secure while boosting productivity.